Setsubun Festival at Musashino Reiwa Shrine and Sakura Town

Information for the Setsubun Festival at Musashino Reiwa Shrine and Tokorozawa Sakura Town in 2023.

Musashino Reiwa Shrine

The Musashino Reiwa Shrine was designed, under the supervision of Kengo Kuma, as part of the Cool Japan project.

There are many unique elements to the shrine, but the design is the most striking. The building reminds me greatly of a kabuto helmet. One of the coolest features of the shrine, in my humble opinion, is its torii. They illuminate the torii at night. The colors change color regularly during the evening and night. Furthermore, in summer the torii blows cool mist. The interior is also stunning with a magnificent painting of a phoenix, the Kadokawa logo, by Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy fame) on the ceiling:

It is a contemporary shrine of modern design, but is dedicated to two of the most famous and significant characters of ancient Japanese folklore. They are the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, and her younger brother: Susanoo-no-Mikoto. In addition, the shrine is significant as the first stop, of 88, on the fashionable “anime 88 pilgrimage”. Apart from being a place of worship, the shrine aims to support and facilitate activities at Sakura town, successfully and safely.

Setsubun Festival at Tokorozawa Sakura Town

The Setsubun festival at Tokorozawa Sakura Town starts on setsubun, Friday February 3rd, and ends on Sunday the 5th. The traditional blessing is the only event on the 3rd, from 4 pm. It costs 2000 yen to participate in the ceremony. The traditional events, such as the mamemaki bean throwing ceremony will actually take place the day after Setsubun, on Saturday the 4th of February. They will also have a sweet grabbing event which is bound to be a hit with kids!

Friday February 3rd

• Setsubunsai from 4 pm, costs 2000 yen to participate.

Saturday February 4th

• Shishimai performances, Demon dance and Mamemaki bean throwing ceremony at 1 pm, 2 pm and 3 pm.
• Sweet grabbing between 11 am and 4 pm. You need to have receipts of purchases worth more than 1000 yen at Sakura Town to participate in the sweet grabbing event.
• Tsuina sai from 4 pm, costs 2000 yen to participate.
• Kitchen cars (food vans)
• Live music from noon to 5 pm

Sunday February 5th

• Sweet grabbing between 11 am and 4 pm. You need to have receipts of purchases worth more than 1000 yen at Sakura Town to participate in the sweet grabbing event.
• Tsuina sai from 4 pm, costs 2000 yen to participate.
• Kitchen cars (food vans)
• Live music from noon to 5 pm

Ongoing events

In addition, there is currently winter illumination at Sakura Town. The Tagukore; Dunno a Thing about Art (But I like it) exhibition will start on Saturday February 4th. There is also a Lucky Star exhibition on in the Kadokawa Culture Museum. Then there is the permanent outdoor exhibition by TeamLab which runs nightly throughout the year. (Unfortunately, the EJ Anime Museum will be between exhibitions that weekend – the following weekend on the 11th a Snoopy Exhibition will start).

Tokorozawa Sakura Town

Tokorozawa Sakura Town has shops, restaurants, museums, a factory, offices, a public open space, event space, a shrine and even a hotel. An anime hotel at that.

A summary of what’s available:

• Kadokawa Culture Museum including a Grand Gallery, Bookshelf Theater , Anime Museum and smaller galleries and facilities
• Teamlab Acorn Forest a permanent outdoor exhibition
• Kadokawa Restaurant
• Musashino Jurin Cafe
• Anime Hotel
• Da Vinci Store

There is seriously so much to do in the Tokorozawa / Sayama area of Saitama Prefecture that you could spend a week enjoying all it has to offer. Here is just a small sample of things you can do in Tokorozawa / Sayama.

Information

Event: Tokorozawa Sakura Town Setsubun Festival ところざわサクラタウン 節分まつり

Dates: Friday February 3rd to Sunday February 5th

Time: from 11 am

Cost: the live music and shishimai / demon dance performances are free to watch

Venue: Tokorozawa Sakura Town (see map at bottom of post)

Access

Tokorozawa Sakura Town is a ten minute walk from JR Musashino Line’s Higashi Tokorozawa Station. By car, the entertainment town is about 3.6 kilometers from the Kanetsu expressway. Parking costs 200 yen per half hour. The first half hour is free.

The featured image at the very top of the post and the phoenix on the ceiling photo are from the official website. The official website for the shrine.

Find even more cool events and news for Saitama check the events category.